Cal State LA psychologist Kaveri Subrahmanyam directs the Cal State LA/UCLA Children’s Digital Media Center @L.A. Before participating in a panel on video games and education, she talked about why she fears video games that involve blank canvases, her love of Big Bang Theory, and why she doesn’t listen to books on tape (yet).
What’s the scariest thing about a kid sitting alone in front of a computer screen?
Playing one of those paint games where you can paint on screen—that is scary to me. It completely takes out creativity.
What’s your hidden talent?
Organizing stuff and planning stuff. I’m not musical or artistic. And I write well, I think. I listen to people.
If I were turn on the television at your house, what station was probably on last?
I like watching Big Bang Theory—reruns when they come on 13. I’m not sure what channel that is. That’s my favorite show right now.
What has to happen to get you on a dance floor?
Karaoke in Cambodia. That did get me on the dance floor …
It’s your last meal; what do you order?
Rice—Indian food, I guess. Vegetarian pilaf.
What superpower would you most like to have?
I would like to fly—to get that aerial perspective and beat the traffic. Like any other Angeleno, I hate traffic.
So how do you pass the time when you’re stuck in traffic?
I listen to music. I find it’s the only time of the day when I’m not on e-mail, I’m not on the Web. I can think and plan and think about research questions. I’m thinking about listening to books on tape, but I really use it to marshal my thoughts.
What’s the last great book you read?
I’m actually reading David Copperfield right now—I’ve been doing it for a while. It’s this big fat book.
What’s your favorite mascot?
I would have to say the Bruin Bear. I’m a UCLA alum.
What keeps you up at night?
As an educator and a professor—a psychology professor—I really wonder if what I’m teaching and making my students do is going to help them when they graduate. That worries me a little bit.